AJ Logo Get ArtsJournal in your inbox
for FREE every morning!
HOME > Yesterdays


Tuesday, December 27




Ideas

If Hollywood Says Torture Is Okay, It Must Be True! Ever since the photographs of prisoners at Abu Ghraib being abused by American service personnel emerged into public view, the U.S. has been embroiled in a hot debate over the use of torture, and whether it can ever be justified. Strangely, although all available research indicates that torture doesn't actually work if the goal is to extract information, many Americans seem to believe that it can be a highly effective method of interrogation, and furthermore, that it is somehow morally justifiable if lives might be saved. Where are we getting these ideas? Probably from every cop drama, spy film, horror flick, and suspense movie released in the last 40 or so years. Toronto Star 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 7:16 am

Is It Time To Retire "The Literary Canon"? Scott McLemee thinks so: The term “canon” rests on an analogy between an established set of cultural masterpieces, on the one hand, and the authoritative body of scriptures, on the other hand. And the problem with this comparison is that, deep down, it is almost impossible to take seriously. “Canon” is not so much a concept as a dead metaphor — or rather, perhaps, a stillborn one. InsideHigherEd 12/21/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:53 pm

Click here for more Ideas stories...

Ideas stories submitted by readers
Artist gives data a global dimension Christian Science Monitor 12/23/05
It's Crybaby Time For Consumers Adweek 12/19/05
OUR MAN WATSON Straight Up 11/13/05
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Visual Arts

ROM Scores Raves The Royal Ontario Museum unveiled several new galleries yesterday, and the early response is overwhelmingly positive. "The new spaces will feature the art and archaeology of China, Japan and Korea and a gallery will be devoted to artifacts created by Canada's Aboriginal Peoples. This is the first time in 25 years that the ROM has had a permanent location for its First Peoples collection." The museum isn't done yet - construction is continuing on Daiel Libeskind's five-story steel-and-glass addition, which is expected to be completed in late 2006. Toronto Star 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 7:20 am

So Much Art, So Few Places To Stick It Much has been made in recent years about the sudden emergence of architects as artistic superstars, and many in the art world have begun to question whether museums are focusing on their facades to the detriment of their collections. But even with all the new construction going on across North America, "most United States museums have only about 5% of their permanent collections on display" at any given time. And the crunch goes beyond gallery space to issues of storage: after all, how a museum preserves the art it isn't displaying is just as important as how it presents art to the public, but raising money for storage facilities just doesn't have the allure of getting one's name on a new building. Los Angeles Times 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:52 am

Are Canada's Museums Only Skin Deep? All across Canada, the arts are experiencing a construction boom unlike any other in modern memory, as museums and galleries scramble to open the biggest, best, and most recognizable buildings they can afford. But for all the focus on architecture, Canada's art institutions still face an uphill battle in bringing great art into the country, and keeping it there. "There's still no significant, amply funded international biennial being staged on Canadian soil. Compromised acquisition budgets in the major museums prevent our curators from having real clout abroad... But from what we saw in 2005, at least we can say we are heading in the right direction. 2006 will be a year to keep building, but it should also be a year to think hard about what we are going to look at once all that building is done." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:45 am

It Was A Very Good Year, Eh? Canada's art auction houses had a banner year in 2005, with CAN$46 million in combined profit brought in from sales of Canadian art. "This was almost a 40 per cent jump over last year's total, and affirmation that the boom in the resale art market that started in the mid-1990s is still going strong, with no 'market correction' seeming to loom in the foreseeable future. As usual, it was the painters of wood and water, mountain and sky, horse and sleigh who commanded the highest prices. Yes, more collectors are buying more works by post-Second World War artists -- but in most instances the prices paid for a substantial Jack Bush, Michael Snow, Paul-Emile Borduas or Greg Curnoe are less than what these artists may have received when their works were first sold on the primary market." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:41 am

Italy's New Art Recovery Strategy Italy is negotiating with American museums over artifacts that may have been stolen. "The strategy is part of a broader offensive to crack down on stolen antiquities. Italy has gained additional clout - at least in terms of public awareness - from the current criminal trial of Marion True, a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and of antiquities dealers with ties to top American museums. There has been a real change in the last year or so in how the Italians deal with the antiquities issue. They have become very creative." The New York Times 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:52 pm

Click here for more Visual Arts stories...

Visual Arts stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Music

A St. Louis Turnaround? Thank The Maestro... There may not be a tougher gig in the American orchestral scene at the moment than music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In recent years, the SLSO has coped with gallons of red ink, weathered a bitter work stoppage so complex in its animosities that it ended with the musicians' union locked in a legal battle with its own lawyer, and struggled to capture the attention of a city awash in crime and poverty. And yet somehow, David Robertson, the young American conductor better known in Europe than in his home country, has already begun to transform the SLSO's fortunes in only a few months on the job. "By opening night, he had already motivated the most miserable musicians in any major American orchestra (at least to hear them publicly complain); turned on teenagers as well as dowagers; and begun reaching deep into a racially divided community." Chicago Tribune (LA Times) 12/25/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 7:08 am

Music Skewing Older, Even If Music Industry Isn't Advertisers may be obsessed with the 18-to-49 crowd, but a new survey shows that it is consumers over the age of 50 who are increasingly driving the evolution of popular music in the UK. The over-50s still don't represent a majority of music consumers, but their numbers are decidedly up, and they could begin influencing the marketplace in a big way. Does this mean Rod Stewart making a return to the Top 10? Maybe, but the same survey also shows that the gray-haired music lovers prefer classical over all other genres. BBC 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:17 am

Avoiding The Tough Issues For Australia's classical music institutions and those who purport to support them, 2005 was a year of standing pat and avoiding the hard debates about the future, says Peter McCallum. Orchestras which are unedeniably artistically vibrant seem at a loss when asked to describe their future, and the federal government first proposed, then backed off a plan for combining struggling ensembles and streamlining business plans. "In music, dissent is not the primary issue but the art form needs challenging work and it is not legislation that keeps this in short supply but a mood of risk avoidance and self-censorship." Sydney Morning Herald 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:05 am

Indie Music Benefits From Tech "Exploiting online message boards, music blogs and social networks, independent music companies are making big advances at the expense of the four global music conglomerates, whose established business model of blockbuster hits promoted through radio airplay now looks increasingly outdated." The New York Times 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:24 pm

NY Attorney General Takes On Recording Studios Over Downloading New York's attorney general has filed subpoenas against music recording studios in an investigation of price fixing for music downloads. "Music industry sources said the current probe appeared to center on whether the Big Four music studios -- Warner, Sony Corp's Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Vivendi's Universal Music -- colluded to set wholesale pricing for song downloads." Yahoo! (Reuters) 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:37 pm

Mom Fights RIAA Downloading Lawsuit A New York mom is standing up to the recording industry which wants to sue her for illegal downloading. She says she hasn't. "The woman from Wappingers Falls, about 80 miles north of New York City, is among the more than 16,000 people who have been sued for allegedly pirating music through file-sharing computer networks. The industry is demanding thousands of dollars to settle the case, but Santangelo, unlike the 3,700 defendants who have already settled, says she will stand on principle and fight the lawsuit." Wired 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:32 pm

Who's Buying Recordings? Older People! "The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) report found 59% of over-50s had bought an album in the previous three months and 29% bought at least six CDs a year. Favourite artists include Il Divo, Rod Stewart, Tony Christie, Katherine Jenkins, G4 and Ronan Keating. The BPI said older music fans were driving a growth in sales. Nearly a quarter of all albums are bought by older music fans, and that percentage is set to grow as the UK population ages." BBC 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:23 pm

Click here for more Music stories...

Music stories submitted by readers
Huge Birthday Bash Set for Mozart's 250th "CBSNews 12/21/05"
A homeland for Jewish music "Grammophone 12/20/05"
Why classical music matters to me "Grammophone 12/19/05"
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Arts Issues

France Votes To Legalize File-Sharing "A French government crackdown on digital piracy has backfired because lawmakers rebelled by endorsing amendments to legalize the online sharing of music and movies instead of punishing it. The vote last week by members of France's lower house dealt a setback to Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who introduced the draft legislation... Under the original proposals, those caught pirating copy-protected material would have faced $360,000 in fines and up to three years in jail. An 11th-hour government offer to give illegal downloaders two warnings prior to prosecution was not enough to stem the rebellion. Instead, the amendments voted would legalize file-sharing by anyone paying a monthly royalties duty estimated at $8.50." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (AP) 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 7:05 am

Rethinking Cleveland's Arts District "University Circle, Cleveland's cultural and educational district, is a classic underachiever. It's like a brilliant but nerdy student who never lives up to his potential, socially or academically... The district holds a magnificent collection of great institutions, from Case Western Reserve University to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra and University Hospitals... Nevertheless, the place looks and feels dead most of the time. It is marred by wide, heavily trafficked streets; by inwardly oriented buildings that fail to animate their surroundings; and by a paucity of housing, retail shops and restaurants." Still, the corporation that made University Circle what it is has recognized that a change is necessary, and is taking steps to make the entertainment district more... well, entertaining. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 5:52 am

Sydney Festival Cuts Ticket Prices The Sydney Festival has slashed its average ticket price by 25% and set aside a certain number of tickets to be sold for $25, regardless of the pricing of other tickets for the event. This year's edition of Australia's largest summer festival, which begins in early January, will feature Elvis Costello performing with the Sydney Symphony, French ballerina Sylvie Guillem, and a new staging of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. So far, the ticket discount appears to be paying dividends: sales are 60% ahead of last year. Sydney Morning Herald 12/28/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 5:43 am

Conscience Of the Getty Ronald L. Olson is charged by the Getty Trust with investigating how the organization does business. "In all likelihood, the essence of our investigation is going to be made public at some point. As I see this assignment that the special committee has, it's all about enhancing, reaffirming, some would say rebuilding, the integrity of the Getty. And how do you do that? Very often, sunlight is an important part of it." Los Angeles Times 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:34 pm

Click here for more Arts Issues stories...

Arts Issues stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

People

Fletcher Named To Run Aspen Music Festival "Alan Fletcher, head of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music, has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the Aspen Music Festival and School." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:32 am

Jacques Brel Voted Greatest Belgian The vote was taken by the country's French television broadcaster. "The broadcaster said Brel edged out the popular late King Baudouin, who came in second. Father Damien, a 19th-century priest who cared for lepers in Hawaii, was third. Others in the running included painter René Magritte and former bicycling champion Eddy Merckx." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:50 pm

Click here for more People stories...

People stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Theatre

Chaucer's Route Revisited More than 600 years after Chaucer's pilgrims rode together through Kent a performance artist has set off on the same route. The Guardian (UK) 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:47 pm

Click here for more Theatre stories...

Theatre stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Publishing

Meet The Author On Amazon Amazon has begun "Amazon Connect, begun late last month to enhance the connections between authors and their fans - and to sell more books - with author blogs and extended personal profile pages on the company's online bookstore site. So far, Amazon has recruited a group of about a dozen authors, including novelists, writers of child care manuals and experts on subjects as diverse as real estate investing, science, fishing and the lyrics of the Grateful Dead." The New York Times 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:29 pm

Click here for more Publishing stories...

Publishing stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Media

Will 2006 Be The Year Of The Electronic Lockdown? "As the music, television and movie industries move to make more media available online, they are also attempting to keep that content from showing up on peer-to-peer networks or being copied for friends. They are looking to Congress for help. Meanwhile, many consumer electronics firms are hobbling their own devices to protect themselves from potential lawsuits or, in the case of Apple, to make money from selling media to those who bought the company's hardware... Media companies also told Congress in November that they want new digital FM signals to include an anti-copying flag and that satellite radio companies should not be allowed to create portable players that can store gigs of content." Wired 12/27/05
Posted: 12/27/2005 6:22 am

A Year Hollywood Would Rather Forget "Almost everywhere you looked, uncertainty reigned. Attendance and box-office receipts were down more than 5%. Disney's movie studio recorded a quarterly loss of $313 million. DreamWorks threw in the towel on its short-lived dream. Harvey and Bob Weinstein left Miramax. MGM was folded into Sony. Tom Cruise seemed to self-destruct. Julia Roberts took an extended maternity leave." Los Angeles Times 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:38 pm

How Technology Is going To Change Hollywood Google's test project to make San Francisco wireless for free promises to change the entertainment industry. "Reportedly, Google has already lined up unused fiber-optic cable that spans the country. Such a free Wi-Fi network would mean that the Hollywood studios would no longer need to rely on cable operators—or even telephone companies—to have a two-way pipeline into homes. They could directly rent any movie to consumers and bill their credit card (like everything else is billed on the Internet) without paying a cut to cable operators or local televisions stations." Slate 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:45 pm

Year Of the Remake 2005 was the year of the Hollywood remake. "Major studios have delivered moviegoers 14 remakes of their own films, up from just four in 2000. What's the attraction of remakes, and how do they get made?" Slate 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:42 pm

Market For Electronic Games Softens In 2005 Electronic game sales are down for 2005. "Sales in November appeared to be particularly soft, falling 14 per cent to $47 million in the month that included the release of the highly anticipated XBox 360 from Microsoft." CBC 12/23/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 6:25 pm

Click here for more Media stories...

Media stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story

Dance

Ballet Victoria Takes On Canada's Dance World "Ballet Victoria made its official debut two years ago February with a new hip-hop inspired rendition of Peter Pan. That inaugural production, which featured the Esquimalt Singers and Dancers as a gang of young pirate recruits, was warmly received by the community and toured around Vancouver Island. It also helped the company raise the money it needed to establish a permanent dance centre, which was opened with much fanfare last summer by honorary patron Karen Kain." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/26/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:43 pm

The Woman Who Turned Around American Ballet Theatre Since her appointment in April 2004, Rachel Moore, a former dancer, now 41, has taken firm hold of an unwieldy, creaky organization that is also a great one, constantly beset by financial problems, yet somehow managing to produce the spectacular productions and dancers for which it is famous. Since Ms. Moore took over, Ballet Theater's endowment has risen from $8 million to $15 million; its City Center season this fall showed box office gains of 30 percent over the previous year; and for the first time in six years, an operating deficit has disappeared and a modest surplus is projected when audit results are released next week. The New York Times 12/27/05
Posted: 12/26/2005 9:31 pm

Click here for more Dance stories...

Dance stories submitted by readers
In Praise of Nutcrackers Big and Small Maisonneuve Magazine 12/22/05
Dancer reaches a turning point Boston Globe 12/15/05
I Dance, Therefore I Am Wired News 12/13/05
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story


Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Copyright ©
2002 ArtsJournal. All Rights Reserved